“For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’” Luke 7:33-34

Poor John the Baptist and Jesus! With certain religious people, neither of them could win!

Have you ever felt that way? We have. And that’s why Calvary Open Door Worship Center was called by God to exist.

Calvary Open Door Worship Center was founded for a specific purpose. We were aware of the need for a Jesus Christ-centered church that was “conservative in its views, liberal in its open and affirming love.”

On the one hand…

Many of us knew what it was like to attend churches that were faithful to the Word of God. Jesus Christ was proclaimed the only-begotten Son of God, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. How wonderful! But something was wrong. We noticed that many of these churches were filled with the holier-than-thou, self-righteous “frozen chosen.” They were filled with “the saints” who were always ready to cast the first stone. They ostracized us for not fitting in. They alienated us for not measuring up to their “standards.” Oh, and by the way… Many of their rules, they did not even comply with themselves!

But on the other hand…

Many of us tried to attend churches where seemingly, there was an environment of “unconditional love and acceptance.” But alas, we discovered that these were churches that had compromised the gospel by casting doubt on the inerrancy of Scripture, questioning the divinity of Jesus, and denying His bodily resurrection.

And surprisingly, we learned that these “liberal” churches can be every bit as ostracizing and excluding as the “conservative” churches we escaped from! In these churches, we were ostracized and excluded for our theologically, politically, and socially conservative views.

Because of these realities, Calvary Open Door Worship Center was conceived as a rare church in today’s world: “Conservative in our beliefs, Liberal in our open and affirming love.

Finally, there was a conservative liberal church, where Jesus Christ was ALL, and ALL were welcomed!

One can be a “conservative liberal.” It’s not an oxymoron!